New Coventry University research on security threats announced

Three Coventry University research projects to address some of the security threats facing the UK have been selected for funding from more than eighty submissions from universities across the country.

They are among only eight initiatives chosen for funding by the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, which is led by a consortium of UK universities.

CREST offered £900,000 to fund innovative economic, behavioural, and social science research relevant to understanding and mitigating contemporary security threats.

After a rigorous and independent review process, the projects (subject to contract) were selected from more than eighty applications to CREST’s recent commissioning call.

Coventry University’s successful applicants are all from the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations. The projects include research that aims to give a better understanding of decision-making and levels of violence within terrorist and extremist groups and an investigation into how law enforcement organisations can plan for future security threats.

The Coventry University applicants and their project titles are:

Dr Joel Busher – The internal brakes on violent escalation: a typology and guide for security and intelligence practitioners
Professor Math Noortmann with Professor Juliette Koning at Oxford Brookes University – Imaginative scenario planning for law enforcement organisations
Professor Rosalind Searle – Assessing and mitigating the impact of organisational change on counterproductive work behaviour: an operational (dis)trust based framework.

Professor Mike Hardy, executive director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, said: “We are very pleased that all three submitted projects have received funding. They all examine issues that are very important and relevant to the world today and their findings will be important for informing new policy thinking and should have a real impact.”

Director of CREST, Professor Paul Taylor, commented: “We continue to be impressed by the outstanding quality of responses to our call. The successful applicants promise to deliver theoretical innovation that will make a real difference to the work of the security and intelligence agencies. I am looking forward to working with them.”